Your Award-Winning News Source for the Upper Delaware River Valley Region Since 1975
Vol. 42 No. 21
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MAY 26 - JUNE 1, 2016
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www.riverreporter.com
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Plan for Upper Delaware bridges approved By LAURIE RAMIE, UPPER DELAWARE COUNCIL
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INGHAMTON, NY — The New York-Pennsylvania Joint Interstate Bridge Commission approved $37.5 million worth of replacement and repair costs targeting five Upper Delaware River bridges at its May 18 annual meeting, while agreeing to hold a public meeting locally to discuss the overall coordination of bridge projects. Officials from the National Park Service Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and Upper Delaware Council (UDC) had requested at the 2015 Bridge Commission meeting that the New York and Pennsylvania Departments of Transportation (DOT) arrange a joint presentation in the impacted river valley to explain how the 10 interstate bridges are managed, their conditions and timetables for upcoming work plans. Dave MacEwan, New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) regional planning office liaison, said that while the agencies do convene outreach meetings for specific bridge projects as they arise, he acknowledged that “it can be difficult to see the big picture.” MacEwan reported that he will take up the UDC on its offer to facilitate arrangements, adding, “We will hold it this summer. This remains a priority.”
TRR photo by Fritz Mayer
clearance bar portal frames commonly referred to as “headache bars” will be newly installed. Municipal leaders, community residents, local business owners and travelers were frustrated when the bridge was shut down in December for the third time since 2010 and no timetable was given for when its condition would be addressed. An online petition and advocacy letters urged PennDOT to consider the impacts on commerce, recreation, public convenience and emergency services, as well as the fact that the Skinners Falls Bridge’s detour route sends motorists to the Narrowsburg Bridge, which itself is down to one lane and due for a major overhaul starting in 2017. The next bridge project to get underway this summer will be the $18,914,371 replacement of the 1904 Pond Eddy, NY-Pond Eddy, PA Bridge. The contract having been recently awarded, construction is due to begin in July and continue over two seasons with the goal of having traffic flow on the new bridge by winter 2018 and completing demolition of the current
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The $37,512,605 that the commission approved at its Binghamton meeting for capital construction work does not include an additional $4,335,997 that currently falls into the “unfunded” category, for which both New York and Pennsylvania will have to budget in order to cover the total projected cost of $41,848,602. First up will be $1,053,350 in emergency repairs to the 1901 Skinners Falls, NY–Milanville, PA Bridge to enable this single-lane crossing to reopen to traffic at the end of this summer. The Baltimore truss bridge, which is listed on the state and National Register of Historic Places, was abruptly closed on December 11, 2015 after a routine inspection revealed “worsening deficiencies and signs of overload,” according to PennDOT. A Notice to Proceed was effective May 16; work is set to wrap up by August 29. To help assure that oversized vehicles don’t attempt to cross the bridge and cause further damage, two overhead
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Rehab or replace
The Narrowsburg Bridge is one of five across the Upper Delaware that will see major construction projects in the next couple of years.
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bridge by fall 2019. DOT engineers confirmed that construction of the 504-foot-long, two-span, single-lane bridge will require building a temporary rock causeway in the Delaware River to stage the equipment because of the limited access in land-locked Pond Eddy, PA. Vehicular traffic will be maintained on the old bridge 55 feet downstream while construction progresses to build the new structure out from the NY side in phase one, with boating traffic diverted accordingly, before the switch is made to the PA side. Two 2017 projects were approved on the contract schedule. A major rehabilitation of the 1953 Narrowsburg, NYDarbytown, PA Bridge will begin next spring at a cost of $11,664,884 for construction and inspection, which excludes a 2016 expense of $780,000 for the final design phase. Continued on page 3
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